Recommendation for Hot-Lather machine

[WilliamIam]

Hey everybody. My family wants to get my dad a hot-lather machine for Christmast this year.
Are there any recommendation for good ones out there, or ones to avoid? How do they work? It will work better with his situation than a mug and brush, unfortunately.

Thanks and Happy Shaves

 

[Greglam]

The only one that I'm familiar with is the Campbell Latherizer that is standard equipment in most old school barber shops. They run about $200 but the good news is that the soap concentrate only runs about $3 for an 8oz bottle that makes 2 gallons of soap liquid. You can get them at www.bowmanbeauty.com out of Wilmington NC.

Other than that, there are plenty of contraptions that heat up cans of good or gel but from what I understand, due to the spate of people suing for spilling "hot coffee" in their laps and the like, they are more like "luke warm lather machines" at this point. You can just Google or do a search on Amazon or eBay.

Hope that helps!

-Greg

 

[michiganlover]

From what I have read on the boards, the use of a lather machine at home is usually found to be a rather cumbersome. The machine is designed for constant usage, not for usage for 5 minutes a day. They are also not maintenance free, and appear to be a big pain the butt to keep clean. Apparently they are also intended to be plugged in 24/7 so that the lather mix is always all set to go.

 

[Rughi]

I got one for my father for Christmas about 30years ago. It took held a standard can of foam in a sleeve that one would turn on for a few minutes before dispensing the foam.

He put it away after a short while and went back to Williams and his Ever-Ready brush. He still uses that same brush, but I fill his mug every now and then. He really likes the Provence Sante in there now. He didn't, however, take to the Rooney 3/1 in Best that I gave him as it just wasn't the same as that 40 year old Ever-Ready.

Roger

 

[michiganlover]

Here are a couple of links you might find interesting about home usage of the Lather King:

http://www.shavemyface.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28811&sid=14a93bd9b4ba40590b088823e0b01c36

http://shaveblog.com/archives/174

 

[WilliamIam]

I got one for my father for Christmas about 30years ago. It took held a standard can of foam in a sleeve that one would turn on for a few minutes before dispensing the foam.

He put it away after a short while and went back to Williams and his Ever-Ready brush. He still uses that same brush, but I fill his mug every now and then. He really likes the Provence Sante in there now. He didn't, however, take to the Rooney 3/1 in Best that I gave him as it just wasn't the same as that 40 year old Ever-Ready.

Roger

Is your signature a reference to coffee roasting? The second crack is when coffee goes from medium to dark roast.

Thanks for the replies guys. Maybe a brush and soap will work. He's got cartridges, but I bet he can still whip up some Williams (he used it for 30 years or better)

 

[gearchow]

I got one for my father for Christmas about 30years ago. It took held a standard can of foam in a sleeve that one would turn on for a few minutes before dispensing the foam.

He put it away after a short while and went back to Williams and his Ever-Ready brush. He still uses that same brush, but I fill his mug every now and then. He really likes the Provence Sante in there now. He didn't, however, take to the Rooney 3/1 in Best that I gave him as it just wasn't the same as that 40 year old Ever-Ready.

Roger

I got one of those lather warmers about 35 years ago. I used it but gave up on it. You had to wait for it to heat up the can and as a 17 year old, I couldn't be bothered with waiting.

And 2nd crack is where you start to lose origin.

-jim

 

[WilliamIam]

I got one of those lather warmers about 35 years ago. I used it but gave up on it. You had to wait for it to heat up the can and as a 17 year old, I couldn't be bothered with waiting.

And 2nd crack is where you start to lose origin.

-jim

So the 2nd crack was a coffee reference? My roommate used to roast his own beans in a popcorn popper, but I stopped drinking coffee.

Thanks for the info about the lather heater too.

 

[Thebigspendur]

Over the years they have sold a variety of lather warmers. Some you just ran hot water over and some were electric. It's the kind of thing people use and then put away never to use again. The lather King is impractical for home use and the lather ain't that great either.

 

[goby]

Hey everybody. My family wants to get my dad a hot-lather machine for Christmast this year.
Are there any recommendation for good ones out there, or ones to avoid? How do they work? It will work better with his situation than a mug and brush, unfortunately.

Thanks and Happy Shaves

I'm confused. Can he or can't he use a mug and brush? From your thread it seemed like he was physically unable to do so.

The other option is high quality "traditional" foam, like Proraso or Spieck. I'm sure there are others. Or the "metrosexual" brushless creams that some like.

(PS- I don't want to hijack your thread, and PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS PS, but the McDonald's coffee comment is incorrect. The coffee was scalding, the lady suffered third degree burns, and she was in the hospital for 8 days. She wanted less than her hospital bills and McDonald's refused. Hot lather machines went out of favor long before the McDonald's case.)

 

[WilliamIam]

All right, the impression I'm getting is that neither the lather machines, nor the foam-in-a-can are really worth it.
I think he might have trouble with a brush and soap, but I won't know for sure till he tries it. Maybe we'll get him a VDH kit and see if it works for him and go with something nicer if it does.

I didn't realize proraso and spieck made foam in a can... That is a good lead and probably better than Barbasol (I've never seen the yellow barbasol).


(Which coffee comment? In another thread? You can PM me if you don't want to disrupt the thread.)

 

[TheVez2]

If you can go the brush/mug method, then maybe look into a scuttle.

 

[michiganlover]

I didn't realize proraso and spieck made foam in a can... That is a good lead and probably better than Barbasol (I've never seen the yellow barbasol).

The Proraso foam in a can is available from Bath and Body Works under their C.O. Bigelow line.